Final Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor Thoughts

Dearest Reader, we know you want to move on from 2024 but please allow us our final indulgences for only one more week - promise! 

Jason Schwartzmann (Queer) was one of MANY supporting performances that might have been discussed this past year if Leads weren't usurping the supporting actor oxygen

by Nathaniel R

The film year has ended with Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) taking their Oscar categories. So... on account of the timeless procrastinator's slogan 'better late than never' I'm now sharing my own ballot. It was rather shocking / unpleasant (given my predilections) to realize that the men had arguably outdone the women (or at least equalled them) in acting achievements this past cinematic year. Nevertheless, since I far prefer watching / discussing actresses on the silver screen, I’m forcing the men to share one constrained listicle article. Take that, men – you can’t keep a good actressexual down.

Herewith the finalists (i.e. top dozen) for my own ballots in both Supporting Actor and Best Actor at the Film Bitch Awards. The official nominees are also announced... 

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Reader Poll: Which acting nominee will be back again quickly?

by Nathaniel R

One of our recent traditions here at TFE is to guess which of the season's most celebrated actors will be the quickets to be enmeshed in Oscar battles again before you know it? VOTE DAILY (for the next week) on who you think it will be:

online polls

Some history of how well your votes have fared over the last two seasons follow...

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Almost There: Daniel Craig in "Queer"

by Cláudio Alves

Apart from Call Me By Your Name, awards voters rarely see anything worth celebrating in Luca Guadagnino's cinema. In some ways, this season seemed to be a change of pace on that front, with Challengers and Queer going into Oscar nomination morning with some hopes. Sadly, they both got blanked. And while the tennis melodrama was mostly vying for "below the line" honors, Queer had its sight set on a Best Actor nomination, the first piece of Academy Award recognition for the erstwhile Bond, Daniel Craig. Ultimately, the William S. Burroughs adaptation was probably too weird for AMPAS' tastes, but we're here to recognize a performance that's nothing if not Oscar-worthy…

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Oscar Volleys: Brody vs. Chalamet in Best Actor

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Eurocheese discuss the Best Actor race...

SING SING | © A24

ERIC:  Hi Euro, I'm thrilled for this one-on-one with you to discuss our five Best Actor candidates.  While I'm eager to discuss the actual race, because I think we have a real race here with several possible outcomes...what are your thoughts on the nominees themselves?  How do you feel about the five?  I think one is a little weaker than the rest (and that's Colman Domingo, more to come), but all in all a wonderful quintet full of talented actors doing very fine work.  What is your take?

EUROCHEESE:  That's funny - of the five here, Colman Domingo would actually have my vote…

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Split Decision: “Conclave”

In the Split Decision series, two of our writers face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, for the last convo of the season, Abe Friedtanzer and Cláudio Alves tackle Conclave...

CLÁUDIO: As the Academy congregates to elect a new Best Picture winner, here, at The Film Experience, we continue our Split Decision convos. However, this debate won't finish with the white smoke of agreement - we never seem to come to such conclusions around these parts. And yet, we persevere in arguing because it's fun. Oh, how I wish Conclave were as fun to watch as it is to reflect upon and talk about. I've fallen in love with the movie those Yaoi girlies saw and keep promoting online, but that's not the movie I watched at TIFF. Edward Berger's too self-serious for such levity, even if this adaptation would have significantly benefited from a surrender to its gossipy pleasures. Give us RuPaul's Drag Race: Vatican with a matching Untucked, not this mirthless drudgery that only elicits laughs because it treats its characters as fodder for shock rather than people. I guess that's enough for an introduction. So let me do like Cardinal Lawrence and wrap up this homily. Or should I emulate Bellini and declare war? Whatever the case, let's go, Abe. Come defend your Catholic fave.

ABE: We're off to a good start with this bevy of puns and references, which should make for a great conversation…

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